Time is Eternal
Summary: The Trinisette was being connected once again after four hundred years: but there will always be consequences. Alternate ending to Future Arc; One-Shot. AU
i – the trinisette
"As one of the holders of the Sky attributes of the Trinisette, I pledge we shall always protect each others' Families." Uni said calmly, her Pacifier floating eerily in front of her, attached to a cord on around her neck.
"As one of the holders of the Sky attributes of the Trinisette, I pledge we shall always support each other." Byakuran added cheerily, the Mare Sky Ring hovering beside the Pacifier.
"As one of the holders of the Sky attributes of the Trinisette, I pledge we shall always…" Tsuna paused, and Uni and Byakuran looked at him expectantly.
What should I…? He thought, briefly panicking. After all, they were renewing the pledge that helped the Trinisette to keep the world from corrupting. Primo did this as well. He frowned suddenly, and wondered why he was even doing this. Wasn't Byakuran…?
But his fears immediately got erased as the Dying Will Flame appeared on his forehead. He suddenly knew what to do. Staring at the glowing and floating Vongola sky ring in front of him, he finished.
"…shoulder each other's burdens, no matter they are." (he'll regret this cursed promise)
The three items burned brightly.
"With this," Uni whispered, "the Trinisette is once again connected purely."
"We will all keep our agreement, right?" Byakuran asked, smiling slyly.
Around them, the beautiful canvas of a rushing waterfall and meadow started to fade. The colours drooped and began blanking out. Tsuna watched it all go with sad eyes.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Uni commented softly, observing the slowly vanishing scenery.
Tsuna nodded mutely in agreement, and adds, "It's a shame that it has to go."
"It has served its purpose," Uni smiled brightly; "It has brought us all here together on neutral grounds."
"Neutral grounds…?" Tsuna asked, vaguely trying to remember something. However, when it was within reach, it flitted away just as quickly (because fighting was forbidden within the ceremony).
She shrugged, "I have the feeling we are supposed to meet; right here, right now."
And that was all that was needed (for Tsuna to understand).
"Well?" Byakuran looked impatiently at both of them like a pouting child; his indignation at being ignored was seen in his stance.
Uni grinned, "Of course, Byak-kun."
They simultaneously looked at the brunet, who was watching absently the fading colours around him.
"Sure," Tsuna said softly, distantly.
Just before all of it was gone, he suddenly smiled brightly at the other two.
"Let's do our best to keep our promises, ne?"
Before Tsuna went into battle with Byakuran, he remembered the fleeting image of rushing crystal waters and a glistening sky…
Sky…
(but it was a dream, right?)
The brief look of realisation and regret on Uni's and Byakuran's faces, however, told him otherwise.
ii – promises kept
Uni went first.
She smiled gently at him as she told him of her intended sacrifice.
Of course, he protested but she was stubborn. She hardly knew his family and friends, and yet she was sacrificing herself for them.
Her bright eyes connect with his long enough to send a message (because they always have had a connection).
We promised to protect each other's Families, remember?
She flamed out with Gamma, and Tsuna couldn't recall a time when he'd felt emptier.
A month after that, it was Byakuran's turn to keep his promise.
Tsuna was surprised; why did he even bother? Tsuna had killed him, after all (and when he had, Tsuna had gotten the feeling that Byakuran didn't take their fight very seriously).
Well, that had been future Byakuran. During the Shimon Family incident, the present him kept on appearing many times to help behind the scenes.
But Tsuna finally caught him (in the act, haha) – and that was only because Byakuran was dying.
Being caught sabotaging an enemy base of operations and left to die, he had no strength to move. When Tsuna got the answer for why Byakuran was even helping, he was speechless (because he didn't realise that all that supposed good luck was Byakuran).
"Didn't we agree?" Byakuran smirked, even as he was coughing up blood, "We'd always support each other."
His breathing got shallower, and Tsuna's grip on his shoulders tightened (even as the red colour pulsates even closer to his hands).
"Don't," Tsuna choked out, feeling tears roll down his face. He didn't know why, but he felt he was losing a close friend, just like with Uni. And because…
(other than Uni, Byakuran was the only other person that Tsuna could go to about the Trinisette)
Byakuran, his eyes weary and burdened with the knowledge of the future (where Tsuna had killed him) and parallel worlds, only smiled smugly.
He had died, but not before a few parting words.
"Don't forget to uphold your end of the bargain, Tsu-chan~!"
And the brunet was left to deal with more than a few questions from an irate Reborn and his worried Guardians after they caught him holding Byakuran's body.
Now isn't the time to tell them, his Intuition told him, and he complied.
Tsuna hurriedly made a few excuses and left.
It would be the first of many.
(and now he had to prepare Byakuran's private burial)
iii – concern
Over the years, he constantly got sent concerned and anxious glances from his Guardians. However, he'd ignore them (and that only set himself ever more distant from them).
Perhaps all of the fake smiles and harried excuses had been building up, Tsuna didn't know. But now here they were, confronting their boss as a whole.
"Something is going on, Dame-Tsuna; tell us." Reborn demanded, gun pointed steadily at his forehead. The infant had positioned himself neatly on Tsuna's armrest while his Guardians stood behind the desk in front of him (if it were in any other situation, this is what Tsuna's mafia life would have been like).
"Yeah, Tenth!" Gokudera implored, "We're your Guardians! We're here to support you!" (ever so briefly, Byakuran and Uni flashes in Tsuna's mind)
The others nodded in agreement.
"It's nothing," Tsuna told them, mortified, "Really!"
Predictably, they didn't move an inch.
"Tenth!"
"Yeah, Tsuna! Tell us!"
"Boss!"
"Stupid herbivores…"
Tsuna chuckled, "Well, let's just say… I won't be around sometime in the future."
"What do you mean, Dame-Tsuna?" Reborn frowned (and Tsuna knew that his tutor knew what he meant – he was just too stubborn to believe it).
Tsuna only smiled.
Six years went past, and (it's time, his intuition tells him, and he knows it is true) Kyoko, his wife as of one year, is well on her way to motherhood. He sits on his desk chair with everyone standing in front of him in his office. He had summoned them there, after all; and they didn't like the (damning, ridiculous) reason very much.
"What are you going to do to them to the extreme, little bro'?" Ryouhei asked loudly.
"That is what I'd like to know as well." Reborn added, eyes narrowed dangerously at his calm student.
"I'd like to destroy them." Tsuna replied, feeling nauseous about lying through his teeth to his own Family – especially one that had been with him through so much.
"But why?" Yamamoto asked, looking quite serious for once.
"We need them to fight, don't we, Boss?" Chrome asked shyly.
"Because…" Tsuna hesitated, and decided to tell the truth (well, at least a little bit of it).
"I made a promise."
There was a brief pause.
"Dame-Tsuna," Reborn started sharply, "If you've made some deal…"
"I didn't!" Tsuna hurriedly interrupted nervously, "I only…"
"So you really are leaving us." Gokudera said quietly.
"Hayato…" Tsuna began helplessly; (because his friend had always been attune to what was going on with him, but -) his Right Hand man had been distant as of late. Had he started… hating him?
If so, Tsuna honestly wouldn't blame him.
"Can you at least tell us what we can do to help, Tenth?" His Storm Guardian suddenly blurted out his (real) concern.
Hibari looked on with interest while Lambo, Yamamoto, and Mukuro frowned.
Tsuna bit his lip, Hayato…
I'm sorry.
"Please trust me," Tsuna said softly to them, "and please protect my wife."
In that lifetime, it would be the last words he'd ever say to them.
The night before Tsuna left, he whispered gently in his wife's ear as she slept soundly.
"Raise our child well."
He would have been lying had he said he absolutely did not want her to wake up there and then.
There were no goodbyes.
There was only silence as each and every Vongola Guardian thought of their beloved boss…
(and how he had abandoned them)
Just outside a certain silver-haired man's room, a tall, lone figure looked sadly at the closed door in front of him (knowing that the person inside was wide awake, and that that person knew that he is out there).
But that Family held only echoes for him now as the Trinisette gently reminded him of his duty.
He went, and didn't look back (while the jingle of seven pieces of old metal with jewels that have been split many times rests sombrely within his pocket along with another set made with endless seas, and wings, and one single, clear pacifier).
iv – eternal
At times, Tsuna thought that him, Uni and Byakuran really were similar to each other.
There were a few aspects, but the most important was the fact that they were all…
Eternal.
In his mind, he can sense the protective layer of Uni's undying flames encasing the world and the parallel universes. He knew she was always present, watching over everyone, especially their Families. She would always be protecting them (because the Rainbow was always in the Sky, and always lingers when you are most likely to fall).
Her sacrifice would last forever.
In a roundabout way, Byakuran was everywhere – literally. In a roundabout way, he was immortal. He was present in every world there was and would be. He'd support him and Uni wherever he could (because the sea, when you listen really hard, can always hear everything other people cannot).
His knowledge would sustain the Trinisette.
As for Tsuna…
He realised he had stopped aging when he turned thirty (because the Clam would stay with this world forever in one place).
Tsuna had not left because he had a child coming. He had not left because the stress of being a Vongola Boss was getting to him.
He had left because of a promise.
Uni had died protecting his Family (from Byakuran, admittedly).
Byakuran had tried everything to support him (for him and Uni, ironically).
And so Tsuna would carry their burdens (whatever they may be).
Before he had left, he made sure the Gesso Family and the Giglio Nero Family were looked after by the Vongola. Hopefully, they'd grow to become strong allies.
One day, he'd remove the curse that bound the Arcobalenos, but…
Not yet, his Intuition whispered to him, not yet…
Four hundred years ago, Giotto Vongola, the Primo, had made a pact with the holders of the Sky Mare Ring and the Sky Pacifier. However, his ancestor had chosen to protect and guide the world through the Vongola Rings.
This time, Tsuna chose a different option (immortality is a curse -!). Hopefully, he wouldn't fail Uni's and Byakuran's wishes (their burdens will crush you!).
For now, he'd protect the Trinisette, sans the other Pacifiers, of course. Uni and Byakuran had given their lives to protect the mafia world, and on some level, he agreed with Byakuran's view of human beings. However, he wouldn't try and rule the world (no, Tsuna would destroy -!).
When the time was right, and the mafia were trying hard to repent for their sins, he'd give the Rings and Pacifier back.
I promised, Uni-chan, Byak-kun, that I'd shoulder all of our burdens.
But please, support and protect me…
(for it would be four hundred years before he could truly return the Trinisette back to the world)
A/N: Wow, I am really surprised that I wrote this. Although some parts of it seem like absolute bullcrap to me, it was an alright piece, I suppose.
Also, don't tell me I have my information wrong - this is classified as an Alternate Reality/Universe story, and that means I can butcher the canon however much I want (however, I HAD wanted to keep to the canon as close as possible). But do feel free to point out random things, haha.
There may be a multi-chaptered spin-off to this. I'm not sure, since I fail at completing multi-chaptered stories; and, well, I was full of inspiration to write a sequel, but then it died in a hole right after I reread the end to the Future Arc. Is that even possible? o.O
Anyways, PLEASE REVIEW~! =D